Building construction



May 24, 1938. R. w. MCLAUGHLIN, JR 2,118,218

BUILDING CONSTRUCTION Filed May 5, 1937 W MW A TTORNEYS.

5 I7O Q INVENTOR.

a v L1 BYM Patented May 24, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE BUILDINGCONSTRUCTION Application May 5, 1937, Serial No. 140,848

9 Claims.

This invention relates to a building construction and more specificallyto prefabricated buildings.

In general, it is an object of the invention to provide a device of thecharacter described which will efliciently perform the purposes forwhich it is intended, which is simple and economical of construction,which can be expeditiously, conveniently, and safely manipulated, andwhich can be readily manufactured and assembled.

Another object of the invention is to provide building elements whichmay be affixed to foundation fixtures which are more or less haphazardlypositioned; to provide interchangeable building units which may bereadily anchored to the foundation even when they and the foundation arenot accurately aligned; to provide such building units, walls and floorswhich may be so fixed to the foundation, whether or not the walls are tobe suspended from the floors, or vice versa; and to provide a simpleconnecting element or tool to assist in the foregoing objects.

Other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and Will in partappear hereinafter.

The invention accordingly comprises the features of construction,combination of elements, and arrangement of parts, which will beexemplified in the construction hereinafter set forth and the scope ofthe application of which will be indicated in the claims.

For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention,reference should be had to the following detailed description, taken inconnection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a view in elevation, as taken from one end of a floor unit,of a construction embodying one form of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a view in elevation, as taken from the side of a floor unitand showing the construction at the end of a floor unit and embodyingone form of the invention; and

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of an element used in the constructionshown in Figs. 1 and 2.

Heretofore there have been severe difliculties encountered in thepositioning of prefabricated building units upon foundations. It hasbeen found that permanent fixtures placed in foundation walls, such asbolts embedded in concrete, are not properly aligned to cooperate withattaching features of prefabricated units, which latter may be broughtto the foundation some time after the construction of the foundation.These difficulties have been present even though the prefabricated unitsand their attachments were carefully and. accurately aligned amongthemselves. pling or interconnecting elements for tying the floor orwallunits to the foundation have been especially prepared for eachinterconnection necessary. Such special preparation, of course, istime-consuming, expensive, troublesome, and generally undesirable.

The present invention contemplates a construction which eliminates allof the foregoing drawbacks and difficulties. The floor or wall units maybe tied to bolts or the like which are quite erratically positionedalong the foundation. The interconnecting or tying elements may be usedalong the ends or the sides of the floor or wall units, or used withthem when they are interlocked.

In the drawing, I0 denotes a foundation, seated on which is a floor unitl2 of the type described in my copending application, Serial No.102,451.

The latter has two, longitudinally spaced, horizontal, joist elements Mwhich carry at their tops the floor grid or plank I6. The flooring iscomposed of a plurality of these adjacent and preferably internestedfloor units I2. Along the joist, which is on the outside of that unitwhich is to be next to the vertical wall I8, supporting means areprovided which may take the form of a bracket 20 securely fixed to thejoist, as by welding directly or by the connecting tabs or wings 42which are integral with the element 20 and may be welded or otherwiseattached to the joist. The vertical wall It? may comprise a plurality ofunits structurally similar to the units I2 and be provided with meansfor interlocking with the supporting brace 20. These interlocking meansmay comprise a horizontal bracket 22 which may extend along past one ormore vertical wall units and be securely attached to them. Dependingupon the shape of the elements 20 and 22, the wall units may besuspended from the floor units (as shown), or vice versa. Interlockingunits of the type disclosed in my said copending application, Serial No.102,451, are particularly suitable for use in the present construction.

As shown, a portion of bracket 22 is bent over the top of bracket 20 soas to provide a surface 24, adapted for engagement with theWall-anchoring or attaching elements 30. In the foundation Hi, there isan attaching element, such as the bolt,

26 permanently positioned so as to extend above Couings and the openingsmay be somewhat broader than the connecting element 30 so that no matterwhere the fixtures 26 are positioned, there will be plenty ofopportunities for connecting them, or a sufficient number of them, tothe element 22.

The unit 30 has an upper hooked portion 32, a portion 34 shaped to sitagainst the foundation l0, and an intermediate portion 36 between thefirst-mentioned portions. These portions are at such angles that whenthe concavity of the hooked portion faces downward so as to have avertical axis, the extension portion 34 is spaced from that axis. Inposition, the extension 34 is within the unit l2 while the hookedportion 32 is without the unit l2. An opening 38 through extension 34has a long dimension perpendicular to the direction of the fold whichmakes the hooked portion 32. In position, the bolt 26 extends throughthe opening 38 and a nut 40 clamps the extension 34 to the foundation.In this way, the connecting element 30 may be used with a bolt 25 whichis displaced by various amounts from the foot of the stud l4. Becausethe hook 32 may be slid along edge 24, bolts may also be used which arenot only variously spaced from,

but variously spaced along, the foot of stud l4.

The same type of construction is shown in Fig. 2 except that there theconnecting element30 is used with interlocking brackets 20, 22 which areat the end of the floor units. In the case shown, the floor unit has noend element other than the bracket 20. Hence, there is no necessity foran opening such as 28. The bracket element 20, instead of being attachedalong itself to a parallel joist I4, is attached at its ends by wings 42to the joists 14 in the manner shown in my said copending applicationSerial No. 102,451. The vertical wall units I8 and I80 in Figs. 1 and 2are respectively parts of walls which are at right angles.

With the construction as shown, the floor units and the wall units arefirmly held in place and the keying interconnection between these unitsis securely bound together by the same means which holds them. to thefoundation.

Since certain changes may be made in the above construction anddifferent embodiments of the invention could be made without departingfrom the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in theabove description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall beinterpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended tocover all the generic and specific features of the invention hereindescribed, and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as amatter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent is:

1. In a building construction, in combination, a foundation, a pluralityof floor-supporting elements other than said foundation, a plurality ofwall-supporting elements other than said foundation and interlockinglyinterconnected with said floor supporting elements, the elements of atleast one of said pluralities having afiixed thereto means providing asurface spaced from and substantially parallel with the upper surface ofsaid foundation, and strap-like means affixed to said foundation andpositioned to engage said surface.

2. In a building construction, in combination, a foundation, a pluralityof floor-supporting elements other than said foundation, a plurality ofand wall-supporting elements together and to the foundation.

3. In a. building construction, in combination, a foundation, aplurality of floor-supporting elements other than said foundation, aplurality of wall-supporting elements, other than said foundation andinterlockingly interconnected with said floor supporting elements, theelements of at least one of said pluralities having afiixed theretomeans providing a surface spaced from and substantially parallel withthe upper surface of said foundation, strap-engagingmeans embedded insaid foundation, and an anchoring strap affixed to said strap-engagingmeans, said strap being adapted to engage said first-mentioned surface.

4. In a building construction, in combination, a foundation, meansembedded in said foundation for anchoring thereto a building frame,wallforming elements, floor-forming elements, means associated with andinterlocking a plurality of said elements and spaced from saidfoundation and adapted to receive an anchoring strap, and an anchoringstrap aflixed to said anchoring means in said foundation and overlyingsaid lastmentioned strap-engaging means.

5. In combination, in a building structure, a foundation,floor-supporting elements resting upon said foundation, wall-supportingelements, means to interlock said floor-supporting elements and saidwall-supporting elements, said interlocking means providing a surfacesubstantially parallel with the upper surface of said foundation andspaced therefrom,-and a plurality of anchoring means each adjustablyaffixed to said foundation and each adapted to engage and overlie aportion of the surface formed by said interlocking means and rigidlyholding said interlocking means in place and the floor-supporting andwall-supporting elements together and to the foundation.

6. In a building construction, in combination, a foundation, a pluralityof floor-forming units comprising metallic joists and metallic bracingelements connecting said joists,.a plurality of wall-forming units eachcomprising metallic studs and metallic bracing elements connecting saidstuds, means to interlock a wall-forming unit with an adjacent bracingelement of one of said floor-forming units, said interlocking meansproviding a surface spaced from and substantially parallel with theupper surface of said foundation, means permanently affixed to saidfoundation for anchoring said units to said foundation,

viding a surface spaced from and substantially parallel with the uppersurface of said foundation, means permanently affixed to said foundationfor anchoring said units to said foundation, and connecting meansoverlying the surface formed by said interlocking means and affixed tosaid anchoring means and rigidly holding said interlocking means inplace, said connecting means and the surface formed by said interlocking means being respectively of such shapes that said connecting meansis adapted to engage any portion of said surface.

8. In combination, in a building structure, a foundation, a plurality offloor-forming units each comprising a pair of metallic joists, a floorpanel element, and bracing means cooperating with said joists to providea metallic frame, wallforming units, means for interlocking said floorunits and said wall-forming units, at least some of said interlockingmeans being aifixed to and extending parallel with a joist, meansassociated with said last-mentioned joist to provide an aperturetherein, anchoring means extending through said aperture and adapted toengage said interlocking means and affixed to said foundation.

9. In a building, in combination, a plurality of construction unitsadapted to form a floor, a plurality of wall units, means forinterlocking said Wall units with said floor units, said Wall unitsbeing supported by said floor units, a foundation, attachment meansaffixed to said foundation, and means adapted for fixedly connectingsaid wall units to said foundation comprising an element extending fromsaid interlocking means to said attachment means.

ROBERT W. MCLAUGHLIN, JR.

